3 new members elected to RESNA boardRESNA Share Members of RESNA recently elected three colleagues to its board of directors. The new members bring a wealth of experience, knowledge and expertise to the board.

Jennifer Boger resides in Canada and has a background in biomedical engineering. She currently serves as the research manager for an academic research lab that develops artificially intelligent assistive technologies for people with disabilities.

Richard Simpson is an educator and researcher in an academic institution and an ATP-certified clinician providing assistive technology services in a clinical setting.

Patricia Bahr has worked as a rehabilitation engineer in primarily pediatric hospital and clinic settings for over 22 years. She brings not only the hospital and rehabilitation perspective, but the challenges of how to provide services in rural settings to people of all ages. Bahr is currently an appointed
member to the board.

These three individuals are replacing outgoing board members Michael Babinec, Elizabeth Cole and Kay Koch. The new members will officially take their positions Aug. 1 for three-year terms. RESNA thanks the outgoing members for their years of service, dedication and commitment to the organization.

Father finds his calling through son's disabilityUSA Today Share Talk to any father, and most would agree — raising children can be challenging. Paul Pauca is well-aware of these challenges. His 6-year-old son Victor suffers from a rare genetic disorder and has
been hospitalized several times over these years. Yet despite these struggles, Pauca, a computer science professor at Wake Forest University, has focused on "the better" by providing his son with the best care possible. Now, with a little help from his Wake Forest students, Pauca has created "VerbalVictor," a smartphone app that not only helps his own son overcome any communication challenges he faces but one that is already helping other children and their parents as well.
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The current state of cellphone accessibilityAccessWorld Share This article is an overview of the current state of accessibility affairs in the mobile device world from the American Foundation for the Blind. The offerings of four major national service providers as far as accessible devices are reviewed. The article also contains links to Access Wireless, a website created by The Wireless Association and the wireless industry to help people with disabilities, seniors and their families find a
cellphone and service.More

FCC panelists: Technology exists for disabled to access 911Governement Video Share The Federal Communications Commission Emergency Access Advisory Committee met June 10 in Washington, D.C., and during open discussion, panelist Paul Michaelis of Avaya Labs, said he "would like the folks (the EAAC) to be asking themselves if we were to build a particular device, would anyone buy it?" EAAC member Rebecca Ladew, of SCAT Inc., provided a written statement saying, "it is difficult to determine what is the best emergency
communication for people with speech disabilities to use since there are a variety of speech disabilities."More

Linking brain and computer may soon lead to practical prosthetics for daily lifeScience News Share In a series of clinical trials, scientists are preparing to take thought-controlled technologies, known as brain-computer interfaces, to those who might benefit most. The trials are a major step in realizing what many scientists say is an ambitious, but fully obtainable, goal — to restore mobility and independence to people who have lost the use of their muscles through brain or spinal cord injury. Already, people have
completed some simple brain-controlled tasks, but the techniques have been clunky, with equipment that is too cumbersome and complicated to operate at home without assistance.
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Teen gives gift of mobilityThe Indianapolis Star Share Two Indianapolis high school students have been brought together through their disabilities. Tim Balz once knew Steven Scholl only as the kid in the wheelchair. Today, those two strangers-turned-friends have changed each other's lives for the better while forging a lifelong bond through an electric wheelchair. Balz came across an old electric wheelchair and began spending
his time working on it to make it perfect for Scholl, who was currently using a manual wheelchair.More

Wars in Iraq, Afghanistan create need for new technologyPittsburgh Tribune-Review Share It looks more like an all-terrain vehicle than the wheelchair it is. The Personal Mobility and Manipulation Appliance — PerMMA — is a sturdy and smart wheelchair that is one of dozens of elaborate assistive devices or systems under development or being refined at the University of Pittsburgh's Human Engineering Research Laboratories, where Rory Cooper is director. "It might have some of the features of an ATV," said
Cooper, an Army veteran who himself uses a wheelchair.More

Equipois' robotic limbs give factory workers and others a handLos Angeles Times Share At the Ford Motor Co. truck plant in Louisville, Ky., massive, 800-pound robotic arms used for bolting together parts are being replaced by slender, futuristic-looking limbs that can be controlled by a finger. The new arms — just a quarter of the size, weight and price of the machines they are replacing — have already helped reduce injuries and may allow Ford to speed up assembly. Equipois Inc. developed the robotic limb
based on a technology first made famous in Hollywood. Equipois will have "worldwide applications, whether in the workplace or whether actually transforming health or even in military operations," said Patrick Soon-Shiong, one of the company's billionaire investors.
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Elder care goes high techLos Angeles Times Share Games, monitors and robots are among the tools being tested to help aging people live in their homes as long as possible, while lowering risks to their health and safety. Dorothy Rutherford is anxiously
typing at her home computer, filling in answers to an online spelling game. Rutherford isn't just whiling away the hours in retirement. She is taking part in a pilot program in Portland, Ore., that outfit homes with technology so elderly people can be monitored for illness or infirmity.More

Blind man runs visionary shop in New EnglandRepublican-American Of Waterbury via Boston Globe Share Charlie Collins placed a piece of paper beneath a tiny camera mounted on a small black box, and in a few seconds, a computerized voice began to read the printed words out loud. With a wave of his hand,
he silenced the voice. The spoken words could be stored on a computer drive the size of a thumb, and loaded into any number of electronic devices for reading later on. Collins says he is the only "brick and mortar" retailer in New England offering products that open possibilities for people with visual impairments.
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RESNA NewsBrief

Disclaimer: The information contained therein other than organizational news, is not intended to reflect the position or opinion of RESNA nor does RESNA endorse any vendor or product mentioned. This NewsBrief is provided solely for informational purposes.